No changes to Lyme disease treatment

This press release came out today, but it does not look like it took into consideration Attorney General Blumenthal’s claim that the review panel was rigged. I’ll be anxious to see the AG’s response to this report.

HARTFORD, Conn. – Guidelines for treating Lyme disease are valid and do not need to be changed, according to a report issued Thursday by a review panel appointed to settle an investigation by Connecticut’s attorney general.

Lyme disease patients had criticized the Infectious Diseases Society of America because the group’s 2006 guidelines said there was no evidence that chronic Lyme disease exists or that long-term antibiotic treatment is effective.

The medical group says it has never been proven whether patients suffering long-term problems have the tick-borne disease or something else, but it agreed to have its guidelines reviewed to end an investigation by Attorney General Richard Blumenthal. He said some of the authors had conflicts of interest and that they didn’t consider some medical opinions and evidence.